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Stabbed FlyDubai captain opened cockpit door so passengers could subdue co-pilot
October 2, 2026
Stabbed midair on Wednesday, FlyDubai captain Smit Machchhar says he got the cockpit door open and passengers then held down the co-pilot who had attacked him.
Smit Machchhar is an Indian FlyDubai captain from Mumbai with 17 years of flying experience, 11 of them as a captain, who also trained aspiring pilots.
Captain Smit Machchhar, speaking from a hospital bed by video call with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, gives his first account of the attack on flight FZ 1073. CNN, CBS News and The New York Times agree on the core: his co-pilot stabbed him on the Wednesday flight from Dubai toward Tel Aviv, he got up from the cockpit floor and opened the door, and passengers came in and held the co-pilot down. “And I knew in that moment – one last push, Smit! Just do it. The door is right there,” Machchhar said, according to CNN. “I was so badly hurt that I had fallen to the ground,” said Captain Machchhar.
The outlets add different detail. The New York Times reports the Boeing 737 Max 8 lost more than 16,000 feet in 30 seconds, that two people aboard with flying experience brought it down in Saudi Arabia, and that the Indian government released the video. CBS News carries remarks by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who said the co-pilot apparently tried to crash the plane, and an Omani official telling CBS News the attacker holds Omani citizenship, which the government of Oman has not confirmed in public. CNN reports the co-pilot now faces a terrorism investigation in the UAE, and that Machchhar is recovering in Abu Dhabi. “You yourself were fighting the battle of life and death,” said Modi.
The outlets agree on what the captain did and how the flight ended. The attacker's identity, his motive and any tie to Iran stay open: CBS News reports Mr. Trump said Thursday that the White House was looking into it, and CNN reports authorities have not named the co-pilot.
Still developing
The co-pilot's identity was still forming as of the time of this draft.
How settled the reporting is
Sources
- CBS News — FlyDubai captain tells India's leader how he saved himself and 173 others while fighting for his own life
- CNN — ‘I couldn’t let everybody else die,’ says hero Flydubai pilot Smit Machchhar
- The New York Times — Indian Pilot Stabbed on FlyDubai Flight Recalls Sudden Attack - The New York Times
Toggle read the full reports of all 3 outlets counted on this event.